Old World New World

Tomorrow I leave for several weeks to teach writing seminars in Vienna. I am very very interested in what people there think about Trump-era America. I will be asking everyone I meet and reporting back to you.

Although the population of the US has become increasingly diverse, still about 72 percent of Americans trace their ancestry to Europe. (Before 1965, policies limited immigration and naturalization opportunities for people from areas outside Western Europe. Exclusion laws enacted as early as the 1880s generally prohibited or severely restricted immigration from Asia.)

America was considered “the new world.” The “Old World” was Europe. Thus, many of us (particularly the almost three-quarters of us whose families originally came here from Europe) may think we have much in common with western Europe.

Actually we don’t.

Because I will be asking “Old World” Austrians how they perceive “New World” Americans these days, I wanted to get a better sense of the (everyday experience) lens through which they see us. In doing that research, I discovered how little we have in common.

Here’s a short list:

Elections of 2016. In 2016 election, the Trumpian far right candidate was defeated. Former Green Party head Alexander Van der Bellen, the child of political refugees and a committed liberal, won.

Energy. Lower Austria, the largest of the country’s nine states, gets 100 percent of its electricity from renewable energy (hydro, wind, solar). The rest of Austria gets 75 percent of its electricity from clean/ renewable energy.

Education. The country’s university system was free until 2001. Now the cost for Austrian citizens is €366 per term ($391). This includes masters, Ph.D., medical school, etc.

Language. Multilingualism is the rule – not the exception – in continental Europe, with more than half of EU citizens speaking a second language. In the US, 22 percent of us can speak another language (and it is far and away Spanish, the result of first and second generation Americans with Mexican ancestry)

Vacation. By law, every country in the European Union has at least four work weeks of paid vacation. Austria, which guarantees workers the most time off, has a legal minimum of 22 paid vacation days and 13 paid holidays each year. Parental leave is law.

Who we are must seem increasingly strange to Europeans. Let’s see what they have to say.

For me, ( in some very weird way) with the election of Trump the (political) gap between the US and Europe became smaller. Prior to Trumpism, I considered US elections always as an ultra-sophisticated machinery, with huge data operations, carefully crafted messages and candidates with polished resumes who never crossed certain lines when in public (like racism, sexism, etc.). Particularly as an Austrian, I always had to explain to visiting Americans, Canadians, etc. Austrian right-wing phenomenons like Joerg Haider (long-time leader of the successful right-wing Freedom-Party). They always crossed the line.
Then Trump came.
My first thought: Ah, finally, you’re experiencing some “good” old European right-wing populism: He has the same slogans, the same messages, a similar voter base and the same weird obsession with fake tan. So, welcome to my world (of politics).
How all of that ends:
Our last right-wing government ended in 2006. More than 10 years later, our courts are still busy with corruption cases from that era.
What’s the catch?
Our right-wing populist never had access to nuclear weapons…

my love to your country is far from fading just because of this president. I have never been to utterly conservative areas of the US, but I imagine that the liberal/leftist/openminded enclaves I have seen will flourish even more now that they are exposed to such backwarded leadership. after all things haven’t been perfect before trump either, I guess. but, on the other hand, who will save us europeans from our home-grown-rightwing populists now that the US have fallen? 😉

Your fellow Austrians have (at least) temporarily saved you, Florian, by voting in as president the equivalent of our Bernie Sanders. I know your president is mostly a figurehead, but the rejection of Trumpism by the Austria voters last year was so very heartening. Our new president can do a lot of damage both domestically and abroad. Our president does not make me love my country less. He makes me want to stand up for the inclusive and egalitarian values that I believe are at the heart of America. My America.